


Not Another High School Fic!

by KeithOnKogane



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Cliche, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Football Games, Highschool AU, Hurt/Comfort, Lance is a dork, M/M, Nerd and Jock au, Party, Slow Burn, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), THEY START OFF HATING EACH OTHER BUT BEAR WITH ME PLEASE, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Tutoring, also fuck lotor yknow, and is ho t, broganes, its good tho trust me, its kinda rushed but im really trying here guys, its mostly fluff dw, jock!keith, like grossly cliche and cheesy, nerd!lance, not really - Freeform, oh yeah keith is a jock, suuuuuuuuper cliche, the whole pining for the popular jock prompt yknow, trigger warning-sexual assault
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-07-13 19:57:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16024901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeithOnKogane/pseuds/KeithOnKogane
Summary: Throughout his years in high school, Lance has repulsed Keith Kogane, his 'rival', and the most popular jock in Voltron High. It's only until Lance is forced to tutor him he realizes that maybe he isn't all too bad.





	1. Regret

**Author's Note:**

> henlo my children!  
> welcome to my second ever fic. im a huge hoe for cheesy high school prompts where nerd!lance and jock!keith exist. whoops.  
> i hope you enjoy and thank u for reading!!

October 1, 7:00AM

A loud blaring sound interrupted the peaceful silence and Lance's room. He threw his arm across his side table and slammed the alarm off. He yawned and stretched his long arms. Another day of senior year. Hooray. 

Lance hopped up out of bed and started his morning routine. About 5 minutes into his shower, he heard his named being called from downstairs.

"Laaaance!" Veronica yelled up the stairs far longer than needed.

"Shit, One sec!" he yelled back. Almost late for school for the 4th time in a row. What a great way to start off the day.

Lance raced down the flight of stairs, barely making it to the bottom without falling. He gave his mom who was drinking her early morning coffee a quick peck and snatched a piece of toast she was eating. "Ay, Lance!" she said jokingly slapping his arm. 

"Lo siento mama," he said, the bread hanging out of his mouth. "Seeya Vero," Lance ruffled her hair and rushed out the door. "Tell Luis and Rachel I said bye!" and with that, he slammed the door. Lance jogged to the bus stop and sighed. Thankfully he hadn't missed his bus. The ride was short but dreadful. Kids of various ages laughing and yelling. One kid brought a speaker onto the back of the bus and blasted annoying rap songs to be funny. It was way too early in the morning for this. The bus screeched to a stop. Lance thanked the driver and happily hopped out of that god awful bus.

"Wow you weren't late." Pidge said in a monotone, looking up from her phone. She was waiting for him at the bus stop post, leaning back against it.

"Crazy huh?" he nudged her in the side.

"Lance!" Hunk said bear hugging his best friend.

"Hunk, I saw you like, last week." 

"Still missed you." 

Lance chuckled into Hunk's hoodie "Missed you too big guy,"

"How was your weekend?" Lance said throwing a hand over Pidge's shoulders, reeling her into a half hug.

"Finished an online expert coding course, annoyed Matt. The usual."

"Seems legit. How 'bout you Hunk?"

"Well," Hunk rubbed the back of his neck, "I sorta asked out Shay from biology," he mumbled.

"You WHAT?!" Pidge said with a huge smile.

"Aww! I _knew_ you could do it."

Hunk blushed and explained how it went down. It was always nice talking to Pidge and Hunk. Throughout middle and high school, they've stuck by his side. Yeah, they've had their ups and downs, but at the end of the day, they're a family. A small, geeky family.

"So Pidge, do you have a soulmate yet?"

"Oh, _definitely_." she said sarcastically.

"Oh? Who's the lucky computer?"

She was going to retort when a buzz came from Lance's back pocket. He pulled out his phone to see a text; it was from Nyma.

_7:51am  
‘You’re invited to my sexy seventeenth bday! Fri Oct 27. Be there bitch ;)’_

“Who is it?" Hunk said leaning over to peek at his phone.

"Nyma. ‘Sexy seventeen’?” Lance snorted as he turned off his phone and shoved it in his back pocket. 

“Yeah, apparently ‘seventeenth birthday’ is too prudish for Nyma,” Pidge said. 

“Boy, she outdoes herself with these names,” Hunk laughed.

“Remember last year? ‘Super sweet sixteenth’?”

“Oh yea! And Noah had to make out with Kim in spin the bottle. He still hates her for ‘stealing’ his first kiss.” Pidge and Hunk laughed together at the memory. 

“She’s probably gonna call next year's ‘Late-Teen Eighteen’,” 

Lance bursted out laughing, “don’t tell her that, she’ll actually use it.”

Nyma’s iconic birthday bashes were the highlight of the years. She and Lance have been family friends for like, forever. They’d have spa days, go shopping together, all that jazz, so it was no surprise he was invited to her birthdays.

To everyone's surprise, Nyma is one of the smartest girls at Voltron High and skipped grade 10.

Parties were basically mandatory for the students of Voltron High. Every so often, some party animal student would throw one and Lance would get an invite from Nyma to come as a plus one.

To be honest, Lance didn't like those parties. It made him feel even more invisible than he already did at school. He didn't mind though, being invisible, that is until Nyma would leave him alone and Lance is stranded in a sea of drunk idiots. Usually, he turned them down, but this was Nyma, if you declined her invite you’d basically be saying goodbye social life. Lance wasn't necessarily 'popular' but he didn't care. Really, he preferred his small group of friends. 

So yeah. Lance could say he has a pretty normal life. Trusted friends, good grades, a supportive family, everything was just peachy. That is, besides the fact he has a burning love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with the school’s quarterback, Keith Kogane.

He's the most desired pretty boy in Voltron High, but everyone knows he isn't a fuckboy. That's just not _him_.

Believe it or not, they were actually friends. Keyword: _were_. When he joined the football team in sophomore year, he replaced Lance with his _super duper cool_ jock friends.

They went their separate ways, that's it was totally fine with him. Or so he thought it was. He may have turned that feeling of abandonment into anger and hate towards Keith, thus creating a one sided rivalry. Keith isn't all to blame though, after he got into the team, Lance sort of pushed him away from then on. He has a bad past with the some of the players. Keith was and still is unaware of that past, so it's not really his fault, but Lance can't help but want to put the blame on Keith. The thing is, whenever Lance saw him... he got this weird feeling. It's kind of indescribable. 

Aaaaaand speak of the devil. 

“Oh hey Pidge, Hunk,” Keith called out happily, walking to the two. 

“Pidge what the fuck!?” Lance whisper screamed. 

“You’ll thank me later. Just talk to him for once!”

“No I’m not going to talk to hi—" 

“Hey Lance,” he said in a monotone, crossing his arms. 

Lance didn’t even have to look at Pidge to know she was snickering. 

“What do you want mullet?” Lance snapped back, cocking a hand on his hip. 

Keith raised a hand in defence “Just sayin' hi."

Lance scoffed.

"Oh, shoot! Late for band." Hunk fumbled with the phone in his hands. "Bye guys!" They all waved him goodbye.

"You heading to chem, Pidge?” Keith said.

"Yeah. See you there red,”

Keith glanced over to Lance and winked. Lance rolled his eyes. He grabbed Pidge by wrist and pulled her into the school. For some reason that was beyond him, Keith had a school-wide nickname. He was known as ‘red’. He brushed off the thought and dragged her mercilessly down the pavement. As Pidge and Lance walked together into the doors of the school, Lance was about to protest, until they saw _him_.

Lotor. The worlds biggest douchebag. Recently he got back from his very unneeded vacation and Lance has been purposely avoiding him. Only Lotor would go on a trip to Bali and have countless benders in the middle of the school year. It was no secret that Lance despised him, he was even a little intimidated. To make it worse, Lotor is on the football team, making him very popular despite having the personality equivalent of garbage. He was the boy on the football team that made Lance hate them all. It seems harsh, but he didn't care. Keith however is friends with him, because he is a two faced snake who can persuade anyone with his charm.

He was leaning against the lockers near Hunk and Lance’s with his “posse”. His friends know for a fact he makes Lance uncomfortable. Whenever Lance feels bothered like that, it's not pretty. It wasn’t his fault though, past trauma can do that to you. Lotor has assaulted Lance before, and he hasn’t been exactly the same ever since. 

They got to their lockers and set their books inside. Lotor looked over to the duo. “Ah, Lance. Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes. I was starting to think you were ignoring me.”

“Not today Lotor.” He gritted through his teeth. 

“Yikes, a little fussy today huh?” 

“Can you just leave? You’re locker's like, three hallways away. Go bother people there.” He hissed at Lotor.

“So now you’re keeping tabs on me?” He began to walk over to Lance “I’m flattered Lancey,” 

“He said piss off,” Pidge warned him. 

Lotor turned to his friends and snorted. “Aww did I upset the gremlin?” 

“Yes. And if you’d like to keep your dick attached to your body I suggest you walk away.” Everyone knows not to mess with Pidge. She’s small alright, but she’s feisty. 

“Whatever, killjoy.” he laughed and finally walked away with his friends. 

“Midget!” one of the jocks yelled to Pidge as they walked away. 

“Wow that was a good one! You’re a real comedic genius asswipe!” She yelled right back and scoffed. “C’mon Lance let’s get to class,” she began to walk but Lance reached out and grabbed her hand, stopping her in her tracks. He took a second to speak up. “Thank you,” Lance said. “For always... doing that.”

Pidge slapped a hand on his back “Don’t mention it. They’re just a bunch of idiots.”

Lance rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry you have to keep standing up for me.“

“Hey, don’t apologize. I'm your best friend it's kinda my job. Whatever, we’re gonna be late for class.” 

Lance smiled. Pidge and didn’t show it much, but she genuinely cared about him. He really does have great friends. 

————

October 3, 11:49AM

Most of the day was a blur. Keith had mostly gone through it on autopilot, except in Mr. Coran’s science class. Keith wasn’t necessarily interested in the subject, just the students in it. Maybe just one student in particular. Lance McClain was in his class and sat right across from him. 

“Alrighty class, now that everyone has gotten down those review questions,” Mr. Coran asked twirling his moustache. "I'll be handing back your tests from last week" He shuffled the piled papers on his desk.

When Keith received his test he nearly had a stroke. "A 51%?!" he whined to his lab partner.

"Hey that's not that bad, at least it's just one class," He just shrugged and patted him on the back.

"Yeah... Just one class," Keith tried to act calm. He slapped his hands on his face and groaned. In reality, he was failing almost all his classes. Science was actually one of the classes he was getting the highest grades in. He's never gotten good grades, but he's scared that this year his results will be bad enough to make him fail 12th grade. Suddenly a loud shriek came from the right of him. Lance was waving his test in the air like a kid who was just told they're going to Disneyland. "What?! How did you even _get_ a 110%?" Hunk said.

"Bonus questions my friend." 

Hunk chuckled. "nerd."

Whenever he looked over at Lance and his smile, it reminded him of all the fun times they used to have. They drifted and Keith couldn't help but feel like it was his fault. He did neglect Lance a bit ever since he got more friends. He's been living with that little guilty feeling every time he sees Lance. But that didn't give him the right to be a total dickhead about it. I mean, every time Keith walked by him, he would get dirty looks and a scoff. And for some reason it felt like Lance was always trying to... one up him. As if he was trying to prove a point to him. Whatever, though, it's in the past and he moved on. 

As Mr. Coran babbled on, Keith doodled in his textbook. Unconsciously he’d glance to Lance who would occasionally turn to Hunk beside him and crack a joke. He would let out that giggle Keith knew all too well. He stared at him, wondering what Keith really did to piss him off so fucking much, 

Until Lance turned his head mid laugh and caught Keith staring. 

Keith was about to whip his head around in embarrassment when Mr. Coran called him out. "Mr. Kogane. I see you enjoy dozing off. You can continue doing so tomorrow after school in detention." Some students laughed at that.

Keith choked up "Mr. Coran, I have football--"

"Well maybe you should have paid attention. Would you like to have it for the next week instead?" Suddenly, the bell rang signalling the end of the period. Saved by the bell. Literally. Students rushed up, grabbing their textbooks and things. 

Keith walked down to the cafeteria with some of his friends and found their way to their usual spots. He and his friends chatted and had a few laughs when Lotor sat plopped down beside Keith. He sighed. Don’t get him wrong, Keith likes Lotor. They’ve even known each other for all of high school. It’s not that they’re best friends, but they’re close. It’s just, sometimes Lotor can be full of himself and he feels like he’s entitled to do what he pleases. He wouldn’t really hurt anyone though, right?

“Hey,” Keith said, greeting his friend. 

“Hey, what’s up?” He said 

“Well,” He began, “coach said we gotta do extra drills on Friday 'cause Rolo fucked up last play.”

Lotor almost choked on his water “Extra drills?! We already work our asses off in practice. Why would we be punished for his dumb mistakes?”

“No. Idea.”

Lotor groaned. “Whatever. Hey, so wanna meet up tomorrow after practice? Me and the team are heading to James’ place. Beer, pool, all that shit.” 

Keith groaned. “Can’t. Detention tomorrow.”

Lotor snorted. “Why?”

“Got in trouble in 3rd for ‘dozing off’ in class,” he said, making air quotes. 

Lotor laughed. “Lemme guess, checking out McClain again?”

“Wha-no! I was not-“

“Keith I see the way you stare at him. You’re not slick.”

Keith just sat there a bit embarrassed. 

“I’m not judging you man. He’s pretty hot. I’d tap that.”

A bit of anger flicked in Keith’s chest. You don’t just talk about people like that. “He’s not a toy, Lotor. You don’t just do whoever you want.”

“Whatever. Anyway you going to the party?” He said nudging him. 

“Party?” He got out his phone and scrolled down his notifications. 

7:51am  
_‘You’re invited to my sexy seventeenth bday! Fri Oct 27. Be there bitch ;)’_

Sexy seventeenth though? Really? Keith shoved his phone back in his pocket. He doesn’t dig the whole reckless high school party, but it’s Nyma. You can’t say no to her, that’s social suicide.

“Yeah. Will I see you there?” 

“Oh, definitely.”

————

The last school bell rang and the school day finally ended. Instead of walking, Keith decided to take the bus today because, you know, why not? After a few short minutes of waiting, the bus arrived and the truck load of students climbed in. Keith managed to claim a seat before being trampled. There was a vacant spot beside him. After everyone settled down into seats, the bus doors still stayed opened. He wondered why. 

“Sorry, just found my bus card.” A familiar voice spoke out. 

Keith looked around the bus. No available seats but the one beside him. 

Oh. Oh no. 

Lance stepped up into the congested vehicle and searched around for a spot. 

Please, if there’s a god out there, do me this one favour and spare me.

Lance’s eyes stopped at Keith and the spot next to him. 

_Fuck._

“Mind if I sit?” he asked. 

“Yes, I mean— no. Go ahead.” Reeeaaal smooth Keith. 

Lance gave him a weird look and dropped down into the seat and huffed. He flashed him a small glare. The minutes passing were painfully awkward. Keith had to break the silence somehow. 

"I wasn't staring at you in Science." he blurted out.

"...Ok?"

That reaction kind of hit him like a brick

"Just. Putting that out there."

“Did you at least finish the homework in class?”

Keith blinked. “Homework?” He said, confused. 

“Review questions on pages 347 and 348. We were assigned them at 4th?” Lance said in monotone. 

...

“You didn’t do it, did you?”

He shook his head. No wonder. He was too busy overthinking every thing. A second passed and he bursted out laughing. That made Keith's heart leap a little. He hadn't heard that laugh with him in a long while. "God your helpless." Lance paused like he was pondering. “Give me your phone,” he held out his hand.

Keith was a bit puzzled but obliged. Lance tapped in his number and put himself a name in his contacts. 

“Why’d you-“

“Shut it. I got a new number. I’ll text you the pages,” He said. 

“Oh.” was all Keith managed to choke out. So. Now Keith has Lance’s number. Alright then. 

Lance looked down at the phone for a few seconds before handing it back. “You’re going to Nyma’s party?” 

“Yeah, you?”

Lance nodded his head. For a slight second, Keith could've sworn he saw a faint smile on Lance's lips. 

It sort of relieved Keith to know Lance was going to be there. For some reason whenever he sees Lance, his heart flutters a bit. Maybe he was...no. Nope. Absolutely not. He cannot have a crush on Lance. He totally despises him! Why can't they just talk to each other about it. You know what? He'll do it. He'll ask him what happened to them. As soon as Keith opened his mouth, Lance blurted out. 

"This is my stop. I'll see you tomorrow I guess." 

"Oh, uh, yep."

And with that, Lance left.


	2. Denial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> reminder that im just a baby and i have n o idea what public highschool is like so if im using the wrong terms or if i sound stupid plsssssss dont hesitate to correct me in the comments. luh u guys and thanks for reading!!!!

October 12, 9:21AM

The next day Keith went to school with a few butterflies in his stomach. All night he was convincing himself that he just needs to keep forcing himself to do better in school, and it won't be as hard.

English class. His least favourite. 

The class started and Keith was less patient than usual. When he looked over the english test review, the words started to mix and jumble and usual. 

The more he tried to focus on them, the more they mockingly ran across the pages. He started to feel a bit dizzy. The paper was too much of a bright white it hurt his eyes. His d's flipped to b's and nothing made sense. 

_It’s fine. Just focus Keith._

That didn’t help. At all. 

Keith looked around the room. Everyone else was quietly reading away happily. Why can’t it be that easy for him? 

Now he was just getting agrivatted. He clenched his fists so tight, his knuckles turned white. It took all his strength not to burst out in sheer frustration, but instead he put up his hand and asked to go to the washroom.

Cold water splashed over his face. Keith tried to cool down, literally. He took a few seconds to stare into the dirty bathroom mirror. 

_Why am I like this?_ He thought to himself. _Am I really just fucking dumb?_

————

By the time he got back to the classroom, it was break. He saw Lance in the hallway and rushed over to him. Keith needed to ask why Lance never texted him for the homework. Deep down he kinda hoped Lance would text him for more than just homework.

"Lance!" He called out in the noisy hallway. Lance turned around finally noticing Keith. Just as he was going to walk to him, a swarm of girls gathered around him.

"So, Keith, I heard your practicing after school? Can I come watch?" Axca, one of the girls said.

Keith tried to push her aside without being harsh, "Ah, can we talk later Axca?" She just laughed and continued chatting.

Acxa is one of those girls who can't take a hint, but really mean no harm. She's on the girl's soccer team and was pretty badass, so guys should feel honoured to be given a chance with her. Her dark, short hair was always pulled back into a low ponytail with a few pieces loose covering her right eye. He meant no disrespect, but did she not know Keith is gay?

"Oh come on," She smirked. "You can watch my soccer game after. I'm not all too bad, people say."

One of her friends, Ezor, was wrapping her arms around Zethrid, way too preoccupied flirting with her girlfriend to notice her friend harassing Keith. 

These girls were the most deadly girl group of the school. One of them, Ezor, was a real scary girl, but not in the way you'd imagine. She seems super sweet and nice but is capable of breaking your neck six different ways. She gave off this 'Ty Lee, from avatar the last air bender' vibe. Her long mahogany-dyed hair was always tied into a high ponytail and a playful grin was plastered on her mouth. She's a black belt in taekwondo and not to be messed with. 

Her girlfriend, Zethrid isn't any less terrifying. She has short, curly, black hair thats tied to two buns and dark chocolate skin. Keith wouldn't lie if he said she was bulked. Zethrid does weightlifting and wrestling in her spare time and it shows, a lot. 

The last girl of their group was Narti. She was middle eastern and wore a dark grey hijab that covered most of her face. Her skin was just a bit lighter than Zethrid's and she never really talked. She seems pretty shy and non-sporty, but if you see her in track, you'd be _very_ surprised. She's on the men's track team, for a bit more of a challenge, and is the fastest one on it. 

Keith realized he was wasting too much time, "Sorry Axca but I really have to go-" But when he looked up from her, Lance was already walking away with Hunk and Pidge, looking hurt. Fuck.

He finally escaped the girl's grasp but couldn't find Lance anywhere.

After aimlessly pacing the halls, he decided to go for a run. That always cleared his mind.

As he jogged down the track, he heard someone yell his name from the bleachers. He whipped around to see his football coach and P.E. teacher, Coach Kolivan. He was a big, buff guy with a grumpy stern look plastered on his face at all times. He was always going on about how important strength and focus is.

"Oh, coach, you called for me?"

"Listen, Keith, I'm gonna skip right to the point, you're grades, they aren't doing so well."

Keith chuckled "Coach with all due respect, you don't need to worry about that, you don't teach any of my classes."

Coach Kolivan sighed and slapped a hand on Keith's back "The thing is son," he said "Principal Alfor told me if you can't pull up your grades by finals, you can't play the big game."

Keith's heart stopped. "You mean... the annual game against Marmora High?" 

Kolivan crossed his arms and nodded.

Keith's heart stopped for a few moments. The game against Marmora is the most anticipated event of the school year. It's a tradition that every year before finals, the senior football team versus their rival school, and this year will be the 21st year in a row. The schools are tied at 10 games each, so this year would be the big tiebreaker, which made Keith worry even more.

"C'mon coach. I'll do extra drills. I'll organize the practice meet ups. I'll do anything! Can't you just cut me some slack?"

"No can do Kogane. If you really want to participate this game, you gotta earn it." 

Keith groaned as Kolivan walked away. Anger began to boil in his blood. This was so not fair. What the hell do grades have to do with football? There _must_ be another way to get his scores up before finals.

A few laps later, Keith finally cooled down enough to go back inside.

Thoughts were racing in his head a mile a minute. Maybe if he bribed them? No that would never work. Cheating? Na, too risky. He was walking down to his locker when a bright orange flyer caught his eye. 'Student tutoring sessions'. 

This could be his ticket out.

————

October 12, 12:50PM

"Trust me Lance this'll go great on resumes. You just gotta tutor some kids who need it."

"So you're saying all I have to do is teach some kid how to solve quadratic inequalities or whatever and I can put that on my uni applications?." 

Pidge shrugged and gave a 'yeah pretty much' look. Lance took the paper Pidge was holding out to him and read it. 'Peer tutoring sign-up. Sessions after school.' Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea.

"Sign me up pigeon."

She elbowed him in the rib and continued typing on her laptop. Lance stared at her for a bit until his mind wondered.

For some reason, his thoughts kept revolving around Keith. Lance recalled a few days ago. He was with his friends on the bleachers after practice. One of them must have said a joke because Keith let out the most painstakingly cute laugh. The kind they used to share before he got new friends. All of a sudden Lance got a weird feeling in his stomach, like envy and sadness, but with the littlest flicker of nostalgia. He cleared his throat and tried to brush off that feeling. 

"Hey, um, can I ask you something?" Lance played with his thumbs in his lap. 

"Mhm." she hummed without looking up.

"You know Keith right?" 

"Mhm."

"Do you think he... do you think he'd would like me as a friend again?" 

Pidge slammed her laptop shut and stared at Lance. 

"Uhh, never mind! I think I heard the bell ring better get goi—" before he could get up, Pidge grabbed him by his collar and pulled him down into the seat.

"Oh no you don't. Lance. Talk to me." she said in that tone Lance knew all too well.

"It's just," he started "I may be... missing him a bit," he mumbled so softly that if you weren't listening carefully, you wouldn't have heard him.

Pidge sighed and ruffled her hair "I thought you hated him?"

"I did! I mean-I do! It's just... whatever forget about it."

"Listen Lance," she started "I'm probably the worst person to ask for friend advice from. But even I know that if you want to be friends with someone you have to, I dont know, _talk to him_? Like, soon."

"I'm just... I don't know how. It's not like fate can miraculously bring us together." A lump formed in Lance's throat. He tried to swallow it down.

Suddenly Pidge got a glint in her eyes and opened her laptop once again. The slightest smirk formed on her lips. 

"Pidge, what are you doing."

"Hmm? I don't know what you mean." 

Lance was puzzled and was about to question her when the bell rang. How the hell has it rang at the most inconvenient times? He grabbed his books and left the library.

A couple classes later, Lance was operating on autopilot. Spare block had just started so students were in every classroom going about their business. He was walking to his homeroom when he saw Keith in an empty classroom. Intrigued, Lance took a couple of steps closer to the door window. Keith was looking much more distressed than someone should look when reading a book. "The hell is he doing." he sighed to himself. 

Lance was about to turn around when he heard the slightest sniffle. He glanced back and what he saw made his heart drop a little. Tears were dropping from his eyes. Keith was...crying. He has never liked reading, and he usually strayed away from work in general, but he's never cried over a book. But why? Was it a sad book? He looked a little closer and realized the book was a textbook, and Keith looked much more frustrated than sad.

Before Lance could do anything about it, Keith slammed the book shut and leaned back in his chair, running his fingers through his hair. For a split second, he looked over to the doorway, so Lance bolted before he was caught.

_What. Just. Happened._

————

October 16, 3:05PM

A few days passed and Lance could not get that scene out of his head. By the end of the school day, his friends definitely noticed something off.

"Hey, Lance, come over here for a bit," Allura called him over while she was talking to Nyma near the lockers. Some jerk-offs were trying to harass them a few lockers away, but one of their friends knew better and pulled them away. Smart choice honestly, Allura and Nyma are the nicest but scariest girls in the school. Mess with others, they'll mess with you. Allura, much like Nyma, was a pretty popular girl. She was friends with Lance through Nyma and genuinely didn't care about the social hierarchy, even though she was at the top. 

"Are you ok today?" Allura asked in a concerned voice.

"Ya, Lancey what's wrong?" Nyma wrapped her arms around him and plopped her chin on his shoulder. Nyma was a bit clingy, but Lance liked it. 

"What? Guys I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Lance lied. He pat Nyma's head reassuringly but she and Allura just looked at each other unconvinced.

"Ice cream?" She asked Allura.

"Ice cream."

Lance groaned jokingly but agreed. About two blocks away from their school was this cute 90's style diner with the world's best ice cream. Every time one of them were down, ice cream was always the answer. Hunk worked as a part time chef there, so they'd get free food a lot of times.

"Oh, hey guys!" Hunk said from behind the counter. "The usual?"

"We were actually thinking ice cream today, Hunk," Nyma said eyeing to Lance.

"Yeah. Your best ice cream." Allura added hinting to him as well.

"Ohhh uh- right on it ladies!" He said understanding the situation.

They got to their table and started chatting. "You guys, I really am fine," Lance said.

"No, we believe you," Allura said. "Me and Nyma just wanted ice cream today. Coincidentally."

"Yep. Coincidentally."

Lance just chuckled and playfully shoved Nyma.

"Soooo," Nyma said. "There's word going around that you have a little something going on with a special someone?"

Lance choked on air. "Allura! You never told me this!"

"Okay! You caught me, alright?" She raised her hands in defense. "Me and Romelle may have a little thing happening. But it's only over text, no action. Yet."

"Shut up." Lance said smiling so big his cheeks hurt.

"I knew it! I knew it!" Nyma chanted happily."

They talked and talked until Hunk came over with his tray of ice cream. "Strawberry for Allura," he set down a vintage looking glass bowl filled with pretty pink ice cream. "Vanilla for Nyma," he sat down another bowl. "And blueberry for Lance." Hunk winked and Lance smiled. He knew blueberry was Lance's favourite flavour. "Enjoy your meals!"

"Still don't know how you can possibly eat that. Sour blueberries do not correlate with ice cream." Nyma said.

"Don't hate because your flavour is bland and boring." He chuckled.

"Hey!" she hit his arm.

Just as things were going great, the bell on the door chimed, and a few guys walk in. Not just any guys, the football team. The fucking. Football team. Lance gulped and hoped the two people he didn't want to see would not walk through that door. Awfully enough, they did. Keith and Lotor were laughing with each other and making a scene with their friends.

"Oh boy," Nyma said, "Here comes trouble" she chuckled as they sat at the booth behind them. Allura and Nyma were oblivious to the way Lance felt about Lotor, Lance didn't want to burden them with something that was his problem. Only Hunk and Pidge knew about it.

Lotor walked over to their booth and slid to the spot next to Lance, wrapping a hand over his shoulder. Lance started to panic on the inside. "Can we help you?" Lance said avoiding eye contact with Lotor. He chuckled and played with Lance's hair. "Just saying hi Lancey." Lance swatted away his hand and Lotor laughed.

Lance looked to the booth in front of them where the rest of the team was chilling. Keith caught his eye. What Lance was not prepared for was the look on his face. It wasn't like normal, he looked mad, a bit scary even. The worst part was, Keith was staring directly at him. Was he... jealous?!

Lance adjusted himself in his seat uncomfortably. Allura Nyma and Lotor kept talking but Lance could not shake off the fact Keith Kogane was death staring him with Lotor's arm snaked around his shoulders.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and excused himself to go to the bathroom.

Lance washed his hands and stared into the mirror. At this point, he wanted to just go home. As he was drying his hands, he heard the door creak open. It was Keith. Just when he thought this couldn't get worse. Keith walked over to him and began to wash his hands. Was he not gonna actually use the bathroom?

"So," Keith's voice startled Lance. "You and Lotor. You guys friends?" He said shaking off the water from his hands.

"Why do you care mullet?" Lance scoffed "You jealous or something?" Lance regretted those words as soon as they left his lips. Keith walked closer to him with a dangerous look in his eyes.

"No. Just looking out for you."

"Oh so _now_ you care about me?"

"Lance, don't be like that."

"What? You didn't bother to tell me that all summer." Lance thought back to summer after grade 11. When Keith got into the team the school year before, he became more preoccupied with his football friends to hang with Lance, leaving him totally in the blue.

"You never tried to hit me up either!"

Lance opened his mouth to retort, but nothing came out. He was right. They were both to blame. But that doesn't change the fact that Keith left him. It never will. "Whatever. I don't need this right now." He started walking away when Keith grabbed his hand. When Lance looked up, Keith looked like he was about to cry. "Just hear me out,"

He was about to say something when the door creaked open once again. Lance got a quick glance and almost collapsed. Lotor walked through the door. "Shit!" He whisper screamed as he pulled Keith into one of the _way_ too small stalls. When Keith opened his mouth to protest, Lance slapped his hand over it. He pushed his body close to Keith's to make sure he wouldn't move.

"Lotor!" he mouthed to Keith. He must've got the hint because he stopped squirming. A few very awkward moments later, Lotor finished his business, creaked the door open and left. Lance sighed and dropped his head onto Keith's shoulder unconsciously.

"Uh, Lance?"

"What?"

"Mind unpinning me?" Just then, Lance realized the position they were in. Lance's whole body was right up against Keith's and his hands were resting on his shoulders along with his head. If it weren't for Keith semi-holding his up, he would've fainted on the spot.

Lance jumped back so fast he slammed against the other side of the stall. "Oh my god" He threw his hands up to his mouth. "I'm so sorry," he could feel his heart beating out of his chest. He was just pinned against Keith, feeling every part of him. Every part.

Keith chuckled and ran his fingers through his hair. He opened the stall door and left it open for Lance. "It's no biggie."

"I- uhm, I'm gonna go home now," His voice cracked awkwardly.

"Wait-!" He reached out for Lance's arm, but he was already out the door. "It wasn't _that_ bad!"

"Hey where are you going?" Nyma asked as Lance grabbed his bag.

"Home. My mom asked to, uh, help cook dinner. See you tomorrow!" and ran out the door.

————

October 19, 2:00PM

The next week of school, Lance avoided contact with almost everybody. Too many things were going through his mind. His day went by so slowly, so he was thankful when last period rolled around. It was spare block, so naturally each room was way too crowded and loud to actually get some work done, so Lance thought of the next best place to work somewhere peaceful. 

He plopped himself down on the metal bleacher and opened his textbook. The fields weren't such a bad place to study. About 10 minutes into studying, He heard a couple voices coming from the exit doors. Shit. The football team is coming out to practice.

They started their warmups around the track while Lance began packing his stuff up, grumbling about finding another place to work. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Keith. Maybe it was a change of mind or magic, but Lance convinced himself to continue studying on the bleachers. It was _totally_ not because he wanted to check out Keith while he practiced. He wouldn't notice Lance on the bleachers right? Everyone goes there to work.

After the team finished their laps, they put on their gear and began practice. Each of them got into positions which Lance had no idea of.

"Hut!" One of the grizzled players yelled.

Lance never noticed before, but Keith was a damn good quarterback. And holy shit could he run fast. He made it to the other side of the field and slammed down the football whooping and hollering along with his teammates.

"Ahah!" Lance let out a yelp with a huge smile. 

_Wait. What the fuck did I just do?_

Maybe football is more interesting than he realized.

————

A few rounds later, Lance found himself completely abandoning his notes and totally infatuated with the sport. Each time Keith would get a touchdown or knock over another player, Lance let out a small cheer and a big smile. The team didn't seem to mind him, or even notice he was there. Everything was going great, Lance might even say he was having fun.

As Keith was running down, Lance let out a cheer a little too loud and enthusiastic that it caught his attention. He must have knew it was Lance because he stopped right in his tracks and nearly dropped the ball. Just then, Keith was bodychecked to the ground, _hard_ , by one of the players. Lance felt like a knife was stabbed into his heart. He jumped up and rushed over to Keith, completely ignoring Coach Kolivan yelling "Hey! Kid! The hell you think you're doing?!" behind him. 

"Keith, are you ok?" he said dropping to his knees beside the injured boy. 

"Lance?! wha-" he looked beyond confused and a tiny bit embarrassed. Lance heard snickers and teases from some players behind him.

"Kogane, you got a fan now, huh?" Lotor said.

"Don't be like that man, that's just his boyfriend" Rolo added, laughing.

"Guys shut up," Keith growled. They chuckled a bit but cut it out. "Lance why are you out here?" 

"I-I was studying by the bleachers but I saw you get hit, are you hurt?" Lance brushed off some dirt on his pants. Where was this caring side of him coming out from all of a sudden?

"I'm fine." He tried to get up but hissed when Lance tried to help him up.

"Your arm, you messed it up."

Lance grabbed Keith's other arm and wrapped it around his own shoulders. "You're not fine. Coach Kolivan, could I take Keith to the nurse?" 

Kolivan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Be quick."

When they got to the nurse, she told him to walk it off. Classic nurse Haggar. He had to help him himself. 

Lance helped Keith up on the high bed and sat beside him. He reached for the first aid kit and a few tissues. 

Keith cleared his throat "Lance, why are you doing this?"

"Just 'cus I don't like you, doesn't mean I'm not cold hearted." Wow. That came out way harsher than Lance intended.

"Oh." Keith choked out.

"Look, about the diner thing," Lance didn't really know what to say next.

"It's fine, Lance. Being pinned against you wasn't the worst thing thats ever happened to me." he said with a way too flirtatious grin.

Lance's face turned a bright red. He tried to choke out words but just turned around to grab the first aid kit. Was that FLIRTING?! "H-here, close your eyes." Keith obliged. Lance pushed back his hair gently and wiped away some of the sweat and dirt. He took some antiseptic on a cloth and dabbed it onto the scratches on his face. He hissed a bit.

"Sorry," he said, caressing his face. 

"S'okay." After a few dabs, Keith opened his eyes and stared at Lance. A small smile played on his lips as he glanced to Lance's lips and eyes frequently.

Lance stopped moving his hand and felt his face flush. "What?"

Keith's smile grew when he asked that. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

He gulped and kept dabbing. It was starting to get too quiet. "Y'know, you're not that bad at football." 

Keith smirked, and Lance's heart should not have beaten as fast as it did. "Heh, you think so?"

"Whatever. Football is a dumb sport anyway. It's not even that hard."

"Is it now?" Keith said and grabbed Lance's wrist, stopping him from cleaning his face. "Why don't you try playing me then?" Keith leaned in a little too close for comfort and Lance felt his face boil. What the FUCK was Keith trying to make him do? Die?!

It should not have been possible how much Lance was heating up.

"You're so gross!" Lance shoved him nearly off the bed and Keith bursted out laughing.

"Maybe I will play you one day. I'm not that bad at sports." 

"Oh, yeah for sure." He said sarcastically.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He grinned cockily. "I'm definitely a faster runner than you. Ever wonder why my legs are so long and beautiful? Track." Lance started to lift up Keith's shirt to inspect his arm better. "Oh, do you mind?"

"Ah, no it's fine." He pulled his whole shirt off and took off his shoulder pads.

That. Was. A. Bad. Idea.

It was no surprise that Keith was ripped, but seeing it up close and personal made Lance want to die on the spot. Keith had a very noticeable 6-pack and bulked up biceps. He looked like he could bench press Lance with one hand. Fuck. "Uh-I'll just um, grab the uh—" He said turning around to the first aid kit just to have time to look away.

"What? Never seen a guy shirtless?" He teased him.

"No I've just never seen someone sculpted like a Greek fucking god." Is what Lance wanted to say. All that came out was "Ahah, yeah..." Lance manned up and turned around to look at Keith's arm. There was a big purple-ish bruise already forming on his tricep. "Jeez, that does not look good." Lance cleaned off the bruise a bit and gave Keith an icepack to place on it. "How do you deal with getting hurt all the time? I mean, if I were you I'd be balling my eyes out."

"Guess I'm just a tough guy like that." He said carelessly

A snort came from Lance and he slapped a hand over his mouth.

Keith looked at him in utter confusion. "What?"

"That may have been the most cheesy thing you've ever said."

Keith laughed a bit but got pretty quiet. "Hey," He said. "Why didn't you ever text me that homework?"

Lance stared at him for a few seconds then bursted out laughing. "Oh my gosh," he said between wheezes. "You're so dumb."

"Wha- why are you laughing?!"

"Keith, buddy, my man, I gave _you_ my number, _you_ were supposed to text _me_."

"Oh. OH." He bursted out laughing. "I'm such a dumbass aren't I?"

"Yes, you are."

After a few mocks and teases, Lance patched Keith up and sighed. "Try not to die before grad, mullet."

"No promises nerd."

————

Keith arrived home and was greeted by Shiro attempting to cook some new foreign dish as usual. "Hey, Keith, how was school?" 

"Uh, good." he tossed his backpack to the floor and plopped onto the couch. 

"Learn anything new?"

Keith thought back to science class. That was beyond embarassing. "Nope. Not a thing." 

"Huh. Alright then. I'll call you down when dinner's ready."

"Mhm." Keith dragged himself upstairs to his room. He immediately flopped onto his bed and sighed. This whole Lance thing shouldn't be bothering him as much as it is. He thew a pillow over his face and groaned. He should be totally _repulsed_ by him. But thinking of his sarcastic comment, his smile, his giggle, everything about him made Keith want to melt. 

Then he remembered something. He has Lance's number. Maybe if he texted him and figured this out, these feelings wouldn't come up again.

Keith reached for his phone and opened it. He scrolled through his contacts and finally saw Lance's. _I can do this. It's just Lance. Dorky, loud, annoying Lance._ As soon as he typed the word 'hey' the door creaked open.

"Hey Keith, do you want your pad Thai spicy-" Keith threw his phone on the ground on impulse, creating a loud BAM against his wood floor. Shiro got startled and looked at him confused. He scratched the back of his neck and cleared his throat awkwardly. 

"What's up Shiro?" he said as if nothing happened. 

Shiro looked at him for a second before laughing a bit. "Ok. What's wrong."

Keith shot up. "What? Nothings wrong. Why would you think that?" 

"First of all, I think you broke your phone. Second, you're speaking like that again. That high pitched squeak you talk in when your hiding something. We've lived together for 11 years, you don't think I can tell when something's wrong?"

Keith sighed "Shiro," he said "Hypothetically speaking, if you started to develop a teeny tiny crush on your proclaimed rival, what would you do?"

Shiro blinked at him, "Ok..." he started. "Why am I attracted to this person if they're my rival?"

"Let's just say, they're really... funny. And they've got this cute quirk that whenever they laugh they snort a bit, and when they look at you with they're big doe eyes, it's like the whole sea is trapped in their eyes. Sometimes, when you'd beat them in video games they'd squeak and tackle you. And sometimes when-" 

Shiro cleared his throat and Keith realized he was spilling too much. He stared at the floor so Shiro wouldn't see the flush on his face.

"Uh... hypothetically." he added. _Nice save, Keith._

"Well, if you ask me, I should talk to this rival of mine. Have an actual conversation to see how to resolve the rivalry. Maybe even ask them out on a date."

Keith averted his gaze from the floor and looked at his brother. 

"Y'know. Hypothetically." he winked and went back to cooking.


End file.
